Method of removing the insulation from the ends of assembled commutator wires



Jan. 17. 1956 c. w. KIRSCH METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THEENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. Carl W W,

ATTORNEY.

Jam. 17. 1956 c W sc EJ31 372 METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THEENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

1956 c w KIRSCH 2,731,372

METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THE ENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATORWIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 1 '1 Car! 14Kirsch if? 4 wm ywwm,

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM l'HE SENDS FASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRE Carl W. Kirsch, Canton, Ohio, assignor to TheHoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Originalapplication May 6, 1948, Serial No. 25,461, now Patent N 2,671,913,dated March 16, 1954. Divided and this application June 6, 1952, SerialNo. 292,173

13 Claims. (Cl. 134-2) This invention relates to the manufacture. ofmotors and more particularly to a method of removing the insulation fromthe ends of assembled armature wires preparatory to connecting such endsto the commutator segments.

This application is a division of my copending application for U. S.Letters Patent Serial No. 25,461, filed May 6, 1948, now Patent2,671,913, dated March 16, 1954.

In the past it has been the practice to individually strip theinsulation from the ends of assembled armature wires by hand and to handclean the stripped ends, which procedure is slow, tedious, and costly.With some of the more recently used insulating materials it ispractically impossible to remove the insulation therefrom by hand.

According to this invention the wound armature is placed in a fixtureand the machine automatically separates the wire ends, removes theinsulation therefrom and cleans the wire.

More specifically according to this invention a plurality of armatureholding fixtures are rotatably mounted on an indexing carriage having aplurality of work stations spaced thereahout. The arrangement is suchthat the carriage is periodically indexed so as to move the fixturessequentially from one station to the next.

At the first station the wound armatures are placed in the lower sectionof the fixture, at the second the wire ends are separated and extendedradially outwardly over the upper edge of the lower fixture section, atthe third section the upper fixture section is placed on the lower so asto clamp the wires between the mating edges of the sections, at thefourth station the insulation of the extending ends is charred by theapplication of any acetylene flame thereto. At the. fifth station thecharred insulation on one side of the extending ends is removed and thewire cleaned by the application of the abrading action 6 of a wire orsimilar brush, at the sixth station the radially extending ends of thewires are pushed upwardly to expose the other side of the wires and atthe seventh station the charred insulation is removed from the otherside of the extending ends and the Wire cleaned by the abrading actionof a wire brush.

At the burning and abrading station the fixtures are rotated through atleast one revolution so that all of the Wires are treated. The indexingmechanism is so controlled that the rotation of the fixtures through onerevolution will cause the carrier to be indexed and the fixture to bemoved from one station to the next. At the load ing, wire clamping, andwire turning stations the fixtures are stationary. At the wireseparating station the fixtures are preferably rotated at high speed sothat the wire ends are moved to their radial position by centrifugalaction.

According to the broadest aspects of one submethod according to thisinvention the free ends of the wires of a wound armature are extendedinto a radial position, the insulation thereof charred by theapplication of heat and the charred insulation removed. by an abrasiveaction.

According to the broadest aspects of another subcom- 2,731,372 PatentedJan. 17, 1956 bination according to this invention the free ends of awound armature are separated and extended to a position extendingradially of the armature by centrifugal action while rotating thearmature at high speed and holding the wire coils in position on thecore of the armature.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the machine of this inventionshowing the indexing carriage and the driving and indexing means for thecarriage and armature holding fixtures;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine of this inventionincluding a section through one of the fixtures as it appears at theburning station;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the machine of this invention showingthe fixtures as they appear at the various stations;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a fixture as it appears at the wireturning station; and

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the driving mechanism for the fixtureswhen positioned at the wire positioning station.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, theworking stations are indicated by the letters A to G, inclusive, thestation A being the loading and unloading station, B the wire separatingand positioning station, C the wire clamping station, D the burningstation, E the first abrading station, F the wire turning station and Gthe second abrading station.

The machine comprises a suitable supporting frame 10 rotatabl-y carryinga main spindle 11 which in turn carries the indexing carriage 12. Theindexing carriage 12 rotatably carries a plurality of fixtures (at leastone for each active station) generally indicated at 13 equally spacedabout the periphery of the carriage 12.

Each fixture 13 comprises a vertical spindle 14 rotatabiy supportedinbearings 15 near the edge of the carriage 12. Integral with thespindle 14 is a lower fixture section 16 adapted to snugly receive awound armature with the upperedge of the core adjacent to the upper edgeof the lower fixture section 16 so that the free ends 18 of the armaturewires can be extended outwardly over the free edges thereof. An upperfixture section 19 is adapted to receive the commutator end of thearmature 17 and has an opening 20 to receive the end of the armatureshaft so as to rigidly hold the armature 17 within the fixture 13. Themating edges of the lower section 16 and the upper section 19haveprovisions for leading the wire ends 18 radially outwardly between themating edges of, lower section 16 and upper section 19. A pulley 21 isrigidly attached to the lower end of each spindle 14.

Rigidly attached to the main spindle 11 is an indexing ratchet wheel 22which cooperates with an indexing arm 23 pivoted to the spindle 11 andhaving a pawl 24 held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel22 by a spring 25. The spindle 11 and correspondingly the carriage 12 isnormally held against rotation by a pin 26 (Fig. 2) engaging in one ofthe plurality of openings 27 in the indexing. wheel 22 and is heldagainst reverse rotation when the pin 26 is released by a pawl 28carried by the frame 10 and engaging the: ratchet teeth of the indexingwheel 22.

Connected to the indexing arm. 23 by means of a. link 29 is the end of.a piston rod 30,. the: piston 31 of which is adapted to: reciprocate ina cylinder 32- suitably sup ported by the frame Ill. The end 33 of thecylinder is connected by a conduit 34- to a suitablecontrol valve 35..The end 36 of the cylinder 32 is connected to the control valve 35 by aconduit 37. The control valve 35 is con nected to a source of air underpressure by a. conduit 38 and to a bleeder valve 39 by conduits 40 and41.

The arrangement is such that when the bleeder valve 39 is in theposition shown in Fig. 1 there is a reduced pressure in the end 36 ofthe cylinder 32 and the piston 31" is held in 'theposition shown inFig. 1. When the valve actuator 42 is pushed to the right the pressureis raised in the end 36 of the cylinder 32 and reduced in the end 33 sothat the piston 31 will be forced to the opposite end of the cylinder 32to that shown in Fig. 1. Any type of valves 35 and 39 may be used whichwill produce the above result.

The fixtures 13 are adapted to be rotated at stations D, E, andG byamotor 43 driving an endless belt 44 by means of a belt gearing 45,reduction gearing 46 and pulley 47. The belt 44 is threaded over thepulleys 21 at the stations D, E, and G, over the pulley 47 and over theidler pulleys 48, 49, and 50 suitably supported by the frame 10. Thepulley 47 is preferably of the same diameter or slightly;larger than thepulleys 21 so that the fixtures 13 'at the stations D, E, and G will berotated at least once for each revolution'of the pulley 47.

Rigidly secured to the shaft of the pulley 47 is cam wheel'51 havingcams 52 and 53 thereon. Cam 52 actuates the operator 42 of the bleedervalve 39 and the cam 53 actuates an on-off switch 54 adapted to energizeand deenergize a solenoid 55 connected to the pin 26.

At the station B the pulley 21 is adapted to engage a friction wheel 58(Fig. driven by a high speed electric motor 59, pivotally secured to theframe by an arm 60 and spring-biased against a stop 61 by a spring 62.The arrangement is such that as the fixtures 13 are indexed to thestation B the friction wheel 58 will engage the pulley 21 under thepressure of spring 62.

Preferably the motor 59 rotates continuously when the machine is inoperation but a separate control switch may be provided. The'motor 59may also if desired be automatically energized upon the engagement ofthe friction wheel 58 with the pulley 21. For example, an on-oif switchcould be actuated by the movement of the arm 60 as the wheel 58 engagesthe pulley 21.

At the station D are a plurality of acetylene burners 63 and64positioned above and below the wire ends 18 as shownin Fig. 2. Atstation E is a rotating wire brush 65 which is continuously rotateddownwardly in the direction of the arrow as indicated in Fig. 3. ,Atstation F a cam 66 (Fig. 4) suitably supported on the frame 10 engages apin 67 carried by the plate 68 connected by rods 69 to a sleeve 70slidably mounted about the lower fixture section 16 for a purpose whichwill be described v presently. At station G is a brush 71 which iscontinuously rotated upwardly as shown by the arrow of Fig. 3.

The station H is idle but the fixture 13 is being rotated. If desiredthe fixture could be made stationary at this station and it could-thenbe made the unloading station.

Positioned to engage the top of the upper fixture section 19 at thestations E, F and G are cam plates 72 and 73 which automatically engagethe top section 19 as the carriage 12 is indexed to tightly hold thesections 19 and 16 together so that the wire ends 18 will be tightlyclamped. The plates 72 and 73 may be fixed to the frame 10 in anysuitable manner.

Operation A wound armature 17 is placed in the lower fixture section 16at station A and the motor 43 started which will cause the pulley 47 torotate in unison with the fixtures 13 at the stations D, E and G. Thecam 52 will eventually engage the operator 42 for the bleeder valve 39so as to increase the pressure in the end 36 and decrease it in the end33 of the cylinder 32 causing the piston 31 to move to the left and movethe indexing arm 23 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. l. Shortly afterthe engagement of the cam 52 with the actuator 42 the cam 53 will engagethe actuator for the switch 54 to energize the solenoid and withdraw thepin 26 from the opening 27 in which it is then positioned to free thecarriage 12 for indexing movement. During the counter-clockwise movementof the indexing arm 23 the pawl 24 will ride freely over the teeth ofthe indexing wheel 22 since the wheel is held against counter-clockwisemovement by the pawl 28.

As the cam 52 rides free of the control arm 42 of the bleeder valve 39,high pressure will be reestablished in the end 33 of the cylinder 32 andthe end 36 will be vented to low pressure. This will cause the piston 32to move to the right and move the indexing arm 23 clockwise as viewed inFig. l. The pawl 24 will engage the teeth of the indexing wheel 22 andindex the carriage 12 so that the fixture containing the wound armaturewill be moved to station B. By this time the cam 53 will have disengagedthe control of the switch 54 to deenergize the solenoid 55 whereby thepin 26 which is spring-biased upwardly will snap into the next aperture27 as the fixture reaches the station B so as to rigidly lock thecarriage 12 against movement.

As the fixture 13 approaches station B the pulley 21 will engage thefriction wheel 58 and pivot the motor 59 counterclockwise as viewed inFig. 1 against the bias of spring 62 until the wheel 58 and pulley 21are in good driving relationship with each other. This will cause thearmature 17 to be rotated rapidly so that the wire ends 18 will beseparated and moved to a radial position overlying the upper edge of thelower fixture section 16 by centrifugal action. This result is shown atstation B in Fig. 3.

It is to be understood that it is within the concept of this inventionto move the Wire ends 18 into their radial position by hand at station Bbut it is preferable that this be done by centrifugal action as abovedescribed.

During the movement of the wire ends 18 to the radial position the camwheel 51 has been continuously rotating and eventually will render theindexing mechanism operable to index the carriage 12 another step tobring the fixture 13 with the armature 17 therein to the station C. Atthe station C the upper fixture section 19 is merely placed over thecommutator end of the armature 17 so as to position the wire ends 18between the mating edges of the fixture sections 16 and 19.

The cam wheel 51 will again render the indexing mechanism operative andthe carriage 12 will again be indexed to bring the fixture with thewires extending through the walls to station D. As the pulley 21approaches station D it will engage the endless belt 44 so that thefixture 13 will be rotated in unison with the cam wheel 51. This willbring the wire ends 18 with the insulation thereon into the flames fromthe burners 63 and 64. .As the fixture 13 is rotated the insulation onboth sides of one after the other of the wire ends 18 will be charred.During this action the fixture 13 will protect the insulation of themain part of the windings of the armature 17 from the heat of the flameso that only the insulation on the extending ends 18 will be charred. Bythe time the fixture 13 at the station D has made one completerevolution the cam wheel 51 will again cause the indexing mechanism toindex the carriage 12 another step to bring the fixture 13 having theinsulation of the ends18 charred on both sides to the station As thefixture 13 approaches the station E top section 19 will move beneath theplate 72 so as to tightly clamp the wire ends 18 between the twosections of the fixture. At the station E the fixture is also rotatingin unison with the cam wheel 51. The continuously rotating brush willbrush the wire ends 18 downwardly against the lower section 16 of thefixture 13, one after the other as the fixture 13 is rotated. Theabrasive action of the wire brush 65 will remove the charred insulationfrom the top side of the wire ends 18 and will clean and polish themetal of the wires. By the time the fixture 13 has made a completerevolution at station E the cam wheel 51 will again cause the indexingmechanism to operate and move the fixture to station F where the wireends 18 are still tightly clamped between the fixture sections byautonomreason of the engagement of the top section 19 with the plate 72.i

As the fixture leaves the station E the pulley 21 will disengage fromthe belt 44 so that the fixture will be stationary as it approaches and'leaves the station F. Also as. the fixture 13 approaches the station Fthe pin 67 will engage the cam 66 and raise the sleeve 70. upwardlyabout the lower section 16 of the fixture 13 so. as to bend the wireends 18' upwardly against the top section 19. The cam wheel 51 will.again. cause the. indexing mechanism to" operate and move the fixture tostation G. As the fixture leaves the station F the pin 67 will ride overthe cam 66 and the sleeve 70 will return to its downward position.

As the fixture 13 approaches station G the pulley 21 will again comeinto contact with the belt 44 and the fixture will be rotated at stationG. The wire brush 71 will sweep upwardly over the lower sides of thewire ends 18 and brush them against the upper fixture section 19. Theabrasive action of the brush 71 will remove the charred insulation fromthe lower sides of the wire ends 18 and clean the metal of the wire, oneafter the other as the fixture 13 is rotated as shown at station G ofFig. 3. At station G the wire ends are tightly clamped by the engagementof the upper section 19 with the plate 73.

The indexing mechanism will continue to operate periodically until thefixture 13 with the stripped annature thereon again reaches the stationA. The attendant then removes the stripped armature and replaces it withan unstripped one.

While in the above description, for reasons of clarity, the operationhas been described in connection with a single fixture advancingstep-by-step from station to station, the actual operation of themachine is continuous. As soon as one fixture 13 leaves station Aanother is moved into position and an unstripped armature is placedtherein. When all of the fixtures are loaded the machine will beoperating simultaneously at each station as above described and theattendant will have to continuously remove a stripped armature atstation A and replace it with an unstripped one.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides anapparatus and method whereby the insulation may be continuously strippedfrom the free ends of the Wires of an assembled armature and the'wirescleaned and polished automatically without manual operation except theloading and unloading at station A and the placing of the upper fixturesection 19 over the armature at station C.

While I have shown but a single modification of my invention it is to beunderstood that this modification is to be taken as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to theparticular structure and method shown and described but to include allequivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of theclaims.

I claim:

1. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends ofassembled armature wires preparatory to securing the ends to thecommutator segments comprising, the steps of applying a flame ot theinsulation on the ends of the wires to char the insulation at the endswhile protecting the insulation on the remainder of the wires from theheat of the flame, applying a rotative abrasive brushing actiondownwardly against the ends of the wires to remove the charredinsulation from one side of the wires and to polish one side of thewires, moving the ends of the wires upwardly to expose the other side ofthe Wires and applying a rotative abrasive brushing action upwardlyagainst the exposed ends of the wires to remove the charred insulationfrom the other side of the ends of the wires and to polish the ends ofthe wires, the foregoing steps being carried out in sequence.

2. The method according to claim 1 in which the first, second, andfourth steps are carried out while the arma- 6 ture is being rotatedabout its axis through at least one revolution.

3. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of thewires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose ends tothe commutator segments comprising; rotating the armature at high speedto separate the loose ends and move them to a position extendingradially of the armature by centrifugal action, applying intense heat tothe radially separated loose ends to char the insulation thereof,applying an abrasive action to the one side of the loose ends to removethe charred insulation therefrom, moving the loose ends axially toexpose the under side thereof and applying an abrasive action to theother side of the loose ends to remove the charred insulation therefrom.

4. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends ofassembled armature wires preparatory to securing the ends to thecommutator segments comprising, rotating the armature at high speed toseparate the ends of the wires and move them to a position extendingradially of the armature by centrifugal action, applying intense heat tothe radially separated ends to char the insulation thereof whileprotecting the armature proper from the intense heat, applying anabrasive action to one side of said ends of sufiicient intensity toremove the charred insulation therefrom and to clean. the wire, movingthe ends axially of the armature to expose the other side of said endsand applying an abrasive action to the other side of said ends ofsufiicient intensity to remove the charred insulation therefrom and toclean the wire.

5. The method according to claim 4 in which the burning and abradingsteps are carried out While the armature is rotated through at least onerevolution.

6. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends ofassembled armature wires comprising, moving said ends to a positionextending radially of the armature, charring the insulation of theradially extended ends by applying heat thereto while protecting thearmature proper from said heat and abrading said ends to remove thecharred insulation therefrom and to clean the wire ends and rotating thearmature through at least one revolution during the charring andabrading steps.

7. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends ofwires of a Wound armature preparatory to securing the ends to thecommutator segments comprising, rotating the armature at high speed toseparate the Wire ends and move them to a position extending radially ofthe armature by centrifugal action while maintaining the wires inposition with respect to the core, subjecting the insulation of theradially extending ends to heat of sufiicient intensity to char theinsulation thereof while protecting the remainder of the armature fromthe heat and applying an abrading action to the wire ends to remove thecharred insulation therefrom and clean the wire while holding the Wiresfrom being pulled from the armature by the application of the abradingaction.

8. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of thewires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose ends tothe commutator segments comprising, separating the loose ends of thewires from each other, clamping the separated loose ends of the wires ina fixed position, charting the insulation on the ends of the wires,brushing the charred insulation from one side of the wire ends whilesupporting the other side against a fixed support and brushing thecharred insulation from the other side of the wire ends while supportingthe cleaned side against a fixed support.

9. The method according to claim 8 in which the separating step iscarried out by rotating the armature at a high speed suflicient toseparate the loose ends of the wires by centrifugal action.

10. The method according to claim 9 in which the charring and brushingsteps are carried out while the armature is rotated at a comparativelyslow speed through at least one revolution.

11. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of thewires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose endsto'the commutator segments comprising, charring the insulation on thewire ends, brushing the charred insulation from one side of the wireends while supporting the other side against a fixed support andbrushing the insulation from the other side of the wire ends while thecleaned side is supported against a fixed support.

12. The method according to claim 11 in which each step is carried outwhile the armature is being slowly rotated through at least onerevolution.

13. The method according to claim 11 in which the wire ends are clampedinwardly of their ends during each of the brushing steps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1898 he my.

1. THE METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM AND CLEANING THE ENDS OFASSEMBLED ARMATURE WIRES PREPARATORY TO SECURING THE ENDS TO THECOMMUTATOR SEGMENTS COMPRISING, THE STEPS OF APPLYING A FLAME AT THEINSULATION ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TO CHAR THE INSULATION AT THE ENDSWHILE PROTECTING THE INSULATION ON THE REMAINDER OF THE WIRES FROM THEHEAT OF THE FLAME, APPLYING A ROTATIVE ABRASIVE BRUSHING ACTIONDOWNWARDLY AGAINST THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TO MOVE THE CHARRED INSULATIONFROM ONE SIDE OF THE WIRES AND TO POLISH ONE SIDE OF THE WIRES, MOVINGTHE ENDS OF THE WIRES UPWARDLY TO EXPOSE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIRES ANDAPPLYING A ROTATIVE ABRASIVE BRUSHING ACTION UPWARDLY AGAINST THEEXPOSED ENDS OF THE WIRES TO REMOVE THE CHARRED INSULATION FORM THEOTHER SIDE OF THE ENDS OF THE WIRES AND TO POLISH THE ENDS OF THE WIRES,THE FOREGOING STEPS BEING CARRIED OUT IN SEQUENCE.